Since 2002, CBC’s Canada Reads debates have sparked interest in reading and talking about Canadian  literature all over the country. In 2015, the Margaret Laurence Home started holding its own event, getting five local personages to read from the five nominated books and facilitate discussion about them. It is not held in a debate or knockout format but instead calls attention to and celebrates all five nominees as well as Canadian lit in general.

While the event has traditionally been held at the Margaret Laurence Home - Margaret’s childhood home and now the location of a museum in her honour - this year it needed a little more space to allow for social distancing so the MLH partnered with ArtsForward. Because it is scheduled in mid-March, just before the debates on CBC take place, 2020’s Canada Reads was one of the first local events cancelled due to the pandemic, and it is heartening to see it return this year.

“I think it’s very important for groups that have done events in the past or want to do events to do that even if people are still a little bit uneasy about jumping back into life in the public,” says MLH Chair Blair Chapman. “I think we’ve got to give those opportunities, remind people that this is a community where things like this happen and there’s lots going on.”

Many of the events the MLH runs during the year, including this one, are designed to make the Home relevant to the community. While the MLH is a tourist attraction that receives visitors from around the world, the local community also gets value out of its presence as a vibrant centre for the literary arts. Upcoming events at the Home include a used book sale, a local author book launch, and a Garden pARTy fundraiser, which is a tour of the area showcasing local artists in significant local gardens.